Oct 28, 2019 06:28pm

By Beth Martens

5 min read

Are You a Good Starter?

But Don't Love Following Through?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

As a woman entrepreneur you have that ‘breaking ground’ energy.

You like the excitement of newness - new territory, new projects, new collaborations.

You have initiative. You’re the brave one who will put in the extra time and energy it takes to get something off of the ground, woohoo!!!

But… do you run out of steam as soon as the shiny-new feeling wears off? And find yourself quitting, chasing distractions, or spreading yourself too thin?

If this sounds like you, here are some reasons you may stall out on what you've started, as well as helpful tips for breaking through.

7 Reasons You Are Only Good at Starting and How to Break Through to Following Through

1. You get bored.

We live in a culture that has very low tolerance for boredom, and the excitement of risk is addictive. So revving up the adrenaline and cortisol seems like good substitutes for what we’re really looking for, to get and stay inspired.

But it’s short lived.

If boredom is your beast, stop looking for what will cure your boredom, but rather get to the other side of the feeling of boredom itself. See what you're actually looking for that excitement is a pseudo substitute for.

2. You get tired and burn out.

Partly because you haven't found a sustainable, balanced pace. And that's different for everyone on any given day. And it's only the surface of it, which is the reason that balance can be so elusive and only good in theory.

If you’re going too hard, chances are you’re running from something, rather than delighting in the magic of creating.

Rather than struggling to strike the moving target of balance, dive deep enough to see what you're running from. Then you can let love run you and be a source of energy no matter what your pace.

3. You don’t have a big picture ‘why’ you were doing it in the first place (or didn’t have one to begin with).

You might be addicted to ‘start’ energy, because you either forgot why you are in business doing anything at all, or you haven't yet discovered it inside yourself.

Taking the journey in to remember, re-create or discover anew your unique purpose will make you a long distance swimmer in your life's work.

4. You don’t have the support you need to follow through when it gets hard.

If you don’t have at least one person who can hold you higher than you hold yourself, hold you accountable to what you set out to do and bear witness to your creation, then sadly, we can easily slip out of our commitments to ourselves.

Seek out someone who can fulfill those roles for you. I always say we can do o.k. on our own, but if we want to do something great, we're going to need to reach out.

5. You’re not all in.

Lack of commitment is another hidden reason we start and then want to stop.

If we are withholding commitment, it’s usually for some unconscious reason called an excuse (I’m not good at sugar coating).

But at the end of our life when we used our health, our families, our finances and our external commitments to eclipse a commitment to ourselves, we will regret it.

6. You don’t realize you can constantly course correct.

This is such a cure for me. Course correction is totally different from start and not following through.

Course correction is a natural outcome of learning through direct experience. You may find that what you start is just that, a starting point.

You have to allow your life’s work to evolve, because that’s what it naturally wants to do. And it will evolve only when you actually do it over time.

7. Deep down you don’t want to be seen.

This is possibly the biggest underlying reason why women start and stop. Too many talented women back-paddle the moment they are approaching success.

It feels safer to back out than it does to get out front and centre. But it’s not safe at all. It leaves you out of integrity with yourself, again with the pain of regret.

Deep down, under that surface craving for what’s new, we deeply desire to fulfill on our authentic life purpose, and not only do our authentic life’s work, but be seen and valued for it.

*****

If you’re ready to have a total breakthrough with following through, especially when it comes to that critical threshold of being seen and valued for what you started, then join me for…

A free online class, “3 Simple Steps for Getting Past Your Fear of Being Visible in Your Business – So You Can Build a Nurturing Business Culture, Attract Great Clients and Be a Force for Creating the Change You Want to See in the World!”

In this free online class you will learn:

How to create accountability for yourself and be precise about what inside of you holds you back from getting out in front of your audience.
The bigger picture of why women hiding are in the wings.
A simple solution for a complex problem.

Here’s the link to register with your email to hold your spot:

https://goo.gl/JFCbht

Not sure if it's right for you? Hit the contact tab above or comment where you're at below.

To Learn more:

Pre-Order Beth's Book "Journey"

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